


Fall Back Together

by orphan_account



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Anxiety, Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines Bonding, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Moving On, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Teenage Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines, these kids need therapy and they're gonna get it, they're 16 in this fic, this is gonna be a short fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23471401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: mabel has a breakdown and it all goes downhill from there.the two years since leaving gravity falls have not been easy for dipper and mabel. they still have nightmares and their parents don't understand. while they've managed to get themselves together, some days are harder than others. when things boil to a head, the only option left is to go back to gravity falls in a desperate attempt to confront all of the things they've been running from. it's not going to be easy, but that's what family is for.
Relationships: Candy Chiu & Grenda & Mabel Pines, Candy Chiu/Mabel Pines, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Pacifica Northwest/Dipper Pines
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Fall Back Together

It all started when Mabel attacked a girl at school. 

Dipper had been home that day, nursing a roaring headache and a sore throat when the telephone rang. Buried under a mountain of covers because he just couldn’t seem to get warm, Dipper heard someone pick up the phone and his mother's voice sounded soon after. 

“Hello?”

There was a long pause, and Dipper was about to close his eyes and fall back asleep when his mother’s shocked voice made him flinch. “What?! What are you...well, is she hurt? Badly?” Immediately, Dipper’s stomach lurched, and he briefly wondered if he was going to be sick. Dipper pushed himself out of his blanket cocoon and reached for his phone on his bedside table. He thumbed through his contacts and his fingers flew over the keypad as he sent a quick text to Mabel. 

_Hey is everything okay?_

“I don’t understand.” his mother continued, frustration creeping into her voice. “How in the world did this happen? Mabel would never do anything...well, is she being arrested? Do I have to go down to the police station?” 

Dipper checked his phone, but Mabel had yet to respond. His muddled brain was scrambling trying to put the pieces together. Mabel had gotten hurt, somehow. She must’ve hurt someone else in the process. Was there an accident? It wasn’t like Mabel to get into a fight in school. But it must’ve been serious if the police were getting involved. Worry mounts in Dipper’s stomach the longer it takes Mabel to reply. He strains his ears to listen to the rest of the conversation, ignoring the dull throbbing in his head. 

“...okay, okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Thank you.” 

Moments later, Dipper hears keys jingling, and his mother appears. She has her keys in one hand as she puts her long brown hair into a hastily made bun. 

“Is everything okay, mom?” Dipper asks, wincing as his voice cracks. 

“I don’t know.” she responds with a huff, brushing strands of hair out of her forehead. “I think Mabel got into a fight in school. You just stay put, I’ll be back in an hour. Call your dad if you need to, but you’ll be okay here for a few, right?” 

Dipper waved off her concern. “Of course, mom. I’m sixteen. I’ll be fine.” 

“Okay. I’m heading out.” 

She disappears down the hall, down the steps and the front door shuts behind her. Dipper hears the car pull out of the driveway and sinks back into his warm nest of blankets. He checks his phone. Still no answer. Dipper sighs and reaches for the remote, turning his t.v. on and flicking through channels. There was no point in worrying about Mabel now. It had been three years since they left Gravity Falls, and it was only recently did things start to appear normal again for Dipper. The nightmares never really went away, but they got less intense and frightening over time. 

It was hard trying to explain to their parents everything that had happened that summer. It was obvious some sort of change had come over them when they returned back to Portland. Dipper and Mabel had tried countless times to explain the paranormal activity and strange occurrences they encountered during their stay at Gravity Falls in a way that made sense. It was obvious their parents didn’t understand, and eventually both Dipper and Mabel had given up trying. It was just...easier to keep it to themselves. It took long nights of crying and ranting and sharing nightmares for the two of them to get some semblance of peace and normality back into their lives. Dipper was starting to think that they could finally put it all behind them. 

A history documentary plays, and Dipper can feel his eyelids growing heavier as the drone of the t.v. fades into background noise. By the time his phone buzzes with a text from Mabel, he’s already asleep. 

Dipper awakens a few hours later, feeling only slightly better than he had before. His head is still pounding and his throat feels like sandpaper, but he feels more well-rested than he had since last night. Dipper reaches for his phone and squints as he turns the brightness down. A single text from Mabel makes him more alert. 

_I’m fine._

And that’s how Dipper knows that she is very much _not_ fine, because there aren’t any emojis or smiley faces in her reply, and it’s much too short. Mabel always put emojis when she texts, even when it wasn’t really necessary. Dipper never understood the point of that, Mabel simply said that it was part of her charm. Briefly, he wonders if she’s home or if their mother really had to go down to the police station when his mother knocks twice on his bedroom door before poking her head in. 

“Were you falling asleep, Dipper?” she whispers. “It’s time to take your medicine, you also need to eat something.” 

“Alright.” Dipper sits up and braces his back with a pillow. He was more than capable of taking care of himself, it was just a simple cold after all, but his mother insisted on babying him. He didn’t mind it, really. His mother fully enters his room with a glass of water and two pills that she sets on his bedside table. “Is everything okay with Mabel?”

At this, his mother shakes her head. “I don’t know. Apparently, she got into a fight in school with another girl. She won’t talk to me about it, and I’m not really in the mood to keep prodding her for answers.” Dipper frowns at that. Mabel rarely got into trouble at school. In fact, she was pretty popular. Being sixteen had granted Mabel with newfound confidence and a quick wit. She was still corny and boy-crazy, but her cheesy jokes and romantic ramblings paired well with the rest of the girls in their grade. She didn’t really care if people disliked her. Facing off a dream demon and almost dying countless times tended to give you a thicker skin than the normal teenager. If Mabel _did_ have a problem with someone at school, Dipper was certain she would’ve told him first. They told each other everything. 

“She’ll talk when she’s ready.” he replied, and his mother smiled. 

“You’re always right, Dipper.” she said. “I’ll be right back with your food.”

After eating a bowl of soup and taking his medicine, Dipper tried staying up. He read one of his old comics and watched reruns of the x-files before falling asleep again.

Someone was speaking to him.

“Dipper? Dipper?”

Through the thick fog of sleep, Dipper grunted in reply. 

“Are you still sick?”

“Mm.”

There was a pause. 

“Go back to sleep, I’ll come back later.”

“Hm.”

Dipper managed to get the full story out of Mabel a day later. His cold was slowly going away and he could now sit at the dining room table to eat his meals instead of staying in bed. Mabel had been suspended for three days, and made them both lunch while their parents had left for work hours ago. Dipper swirled his spoon around in his bowl of tomato soup before dunking a slice of his grilled cheese sandwich in and taking a bite. He was getting pretty sick of soup and couldn’t help eyeing the plate of french fries Mabel had for herself. 

“So,” he began through a mouthful of grilled cheese. “You wanna tell me what happened in school? It’s not like you to get suspended.”

Mabel dipped a fry in some ketchup before answering. “I fought this girl named Kelley during fourth period English.” 

Dipper’s eyebrows drew together in recollection. “Kelley Mansworth? I thought you two were friends?”

“We were. But she wanted us to go on this camping trip next week with some other girls and I didn’t want to go.” Dipper raised an eyebrow. That seemed like a dumb thing to fight over. Mabel must’ve read his expression, because she gave him a flat look. “There’s more to it than that, Dipper. I just...I didn’t want to go, y’know? I don’t like being out in the woods at night.”

Dipper nodded, starting to understand. “She kept prodding me to go for nearly the entire week. I didn’t understand how many times I had to say no before she got the point.” Mabel paused to put more ketchup on her fries, her movements jerky as she shook the ketchup bottle. “I was starting to think that Kelley got the point and decided to drop the subject that day, but we were paired up for this English project and things just went downhill from there. 

She started talking about how weird I was. She didn’t understand why I startle so easily or how sometimes I don’t want to talk.”

“Well, that’s...normal? My friends do that too, sometimes.” Dipper remarked.

“Yeah, I know but...then, she found my notebook.” 

“Notebook?”

Mabel nodded. “It was a spare one I had for science. I thought I lost it during the school year because it wasn’t in my locker one day. I figured it wasn’t a big deal or anything, I’m not good at science anyway so it’s not like anyone who took it would get anything useful out of it. It’s just…” she trailed off, and Dipper inclined his head for her to continue. “I wrote some things in there. Junk about how I was feeling and whatever. Kelley showed it to me during English. I didn’t even know she had it.”

“Where did she find it? Was she ever going to give it back to you?” 

“That’s the thing! I didn’t lose it, it was in my locker. Kelley and I...we shared our locker combinations.” 

Dipper groaned, unable to keep from smirking. “Oh, Mabel, that’s terrible! Why’d you do that?”

“In case of emergencies!” Mabel said. “Spare notes, perfume, extra pads. I can’t tell you how many times going into Kelley’s locker for pads saved me from utter embarrassment and a trip to the nurse’s office. Girls do it all the time. Don’t you do that?”

“Well, since I don’t have a period I’ve never really felt the need to…”

“You know what I mean!” Mabel said, a trace of her old happiness coming back. “Anyway, I guess she needed notes for science and took my notebook and ended up looking in the back. It was really mortifying, y’know? I wrote some pretty personal stuff in there. I tried to get it back from her, but she wouldn’t let it go. Then...then she asked me who Bill was.” 

Dipper took too big a swallow of his soup and cleared his throat. “You wrote about Bill?” he asked, and Mabel nodded. 

“I did more than just write about him.” she confessed and her face began to pinch as she became upset. “I wrote his name over and over again. I took up three pages just doing that. I drew him too, a lot of times.” 

“But...why?”

“To get it out of my system? I don’t know! It’s just...he’s never not there, Dipper. He’s always somewhere in the back of my mind, no matter what I do. You can understand that, can’t you?”

“Of course. I did the same thing our first couple of months back home. I just thought things were getting better for us.”

“So did I! I mean, sure I still get nightmares about Bill, but it hasn’t been this intense for a while now. I thought I was over it.” Mabel sighed, and Dipper suddenly felt extremely tired. “Kelley kept shoving that notebook in my face, asking if I was depressed or whatever. She’s always been like that, intrusive and nosy about my boundaries. I tried not to let it get to me, everyone has their thing. This time, it was just too much.

Anyway, the teacher intervened and told Kelley to hand over the notebook. I kept telling them that the notebook was mine and no one was allowed to have it except for me. But you know how Mrs. Dellar is, she’s a total…”

“Bitch?” Dipper provided, when Mabel floundered for the right word. “Yeah, I get it.”

“Kelley walked over to give my notebook away and something in me just...snapped, I guess. I couldn’t take anyone else looking at my things. So I sort of tackled her and tried to get the notebook back.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah, but at that point I had already lost my head. I couldn’t stop punching her. I told her that if she mentioned Bill to me again I’d do a lot more to her than just punch her. Then someone had to restrain me and take me to the office.” 

They sat in silence, Dipper swirled his spoon through the dregs of his now cold soup. Having a reaction that extreme didn’t really surprise him, if he was being honest. Dipper remembered how angry and violent he got when he first returned back home. He supposed it was a natural reaction to the heaps of trauma they experienced in those three long months. Dipper had spent a lot of time venting his frustrations out in a journal only to rip all the pages out and tear the spine in half. He ripped posters off his walls and muffled his screams into his pillow until he found a healthier outlet for it all. That was the time their dad enrolled them in kickboxing classes. Even now, with the rage gone, Dipper still couldn’t really talk about Bill without feeling like he was going to lose his mind. He knew that Mabel had her fair share of bad days, but she had always masked her feelings behind a vibrant smile. He guessed the lid covering her emotions finally blew. 

“This whole thing made me realize that even though we aren’t in Gravity Falls anymore, our problems haven’t gone away.” Mabel said dejectedly. “I mean, we never really addressed them, have we? Sure we talk and rant but...in terms of like, seeing someone--a professional--we’ve both been avoiding that.”

“Yeah, because telling a therapist that we accidentally summoned a dream demon and temporarily brought the end of the world isn’t the easiest thing to do. Our own parents can’t even understand it.” 

Silence lapsed between them again. Mabel sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She had cut it when they were fifteen. Her fingers ran through the locks and pulled out the glitter headband. “Mom keeps pushing me to talk,” she said after a while. “I don’t feel like talking right now. I wish she would just drop it.”

“Yeah, I get it. But spring break is soon, so you won’t have to worry about Kelley. And you can always talk to me if you need it.” Dipper supplied, and Mabel sent him a smile, small but genuine. 

“Thanks, Dipping Sauce.” 

Dipper snorted at his old nickname. “No prob.”

* * *

Days pass, Dipper recovers from his cold and falls back into his routine school schedule. Mabel’s suspension had been lifted, but gossip about her attacking Kelley had yet to die down. Who knew sweet, kind Mabel, who still liked unicorns could be so violent? It was hard for Mabel to go back to school and deal with a bunch of questions, not to mention the fact that she wasn’t getting along with their mom like she normally did.

Dipper was there to help her out, and they both agreed to start kickboxing again. It was a great way to reduce their stress, and it was actually pretty fun. It would be nice to get back into shape again. Friday was approaching, and Thursday night found Dipper going over his homework for the third time before putting it away in his school bag. One of his friends was nice enough to copy notes for him, and Dipper wanted to memorize everything he missed in preparation for the math test come Monday. Gradually, he fell asleep reading one of his books. 

Dipper woke up with a jolt, heart racing so fast inside his chest that it was almost painful. It takes him a few seconds to get his bearings, to remind himself that he was safe in his bed and not in the clutches of an enormous Bill Cipher. He still couldn’t shake the image of Bill’s eye flashing between the pine tree and the shooting star. In reality, they made it out alive. In his dreams however, Bill snaps his fingers and Dipper is clutching the body of his dead twin sister. Once Dipper’s heart returns to normal, he slides out of bed and walks down the hall. 

He knocks on Mabel’s door, unsure of the time, and hears her beckon him in. When he enters, Dipper is greeted with the sight of Mabel in bed with a huge stack of candy beside her. 

“Can I come in?” Dipper asks, and Mabel nods, eyes glued to the screen. He takes a seat on her bean bag chair and runs a hand through his hair. “What’re you watching?”

“Train to Busan.” she responds, and Dipper winces at the carnage on screen. Mabel didn’t normally look at horror movies. 

“Huh, and is that Halloween candy?” he points to her bag and Mabel nods, unwrapping a mini kit-kat bar. “You do realize it’s March, right?” 

“Uh-huh. It still tastes good, though. Want one?” Dipper nods and Mabel tosses him a pack of M&M’s. They relax, sharing month’s old Halloween candy as the movie progresses. By the time the movie ends, both of them are desperately trying to hold back a floodgate of tears. Mabel’s hot pink clock reads 2:00 in the morning. As Su-an’s singing dies down and the credits roll, Dipper turns as Mabel gives a huge sniff and wipes at her face. 

“Gets me every time.” she says thickly, stuffing another piece of candy in her mouth. Dipper gives a choked laugh and stands up, tossing his candy wrappers into Mabel’s trash can. “What’re you still doing up?”

“I could be asking you the same thing.” Dipper counters. “I just couldn’t sleep, that’s all.”

“Another nightmare?”

There was no point in lying to her. Dipper nodded. 

“Do you wanna borrow Lemonade?” Mabel reaches across her bed and picks up her stuffed unicorn. 

“I didn’t even know you still had that.” Dipper remarked and Mabel gave a gasp, pulling the unicorn to her chest. 

“Dipper!” she said, scandalized. “I’d never give up my stuffed animals! They’re family!”

Dipper rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I think I’ll be okay for now. But thanks for the offer.”

“Suit yourself. Goodnight.”

“Night Mabel.”

An hour later, Dipper wakes up again, coated in sweat and already crying. He turns to his side and something rough scratches his face. Surprised, Dipper rears back and rubs at his eyes, dispelling the tears temporarily. Lemonade the unicorn is propped up on his pillow. The rough texture came from the plastic ribbon tied around its neck. It was green from the glow in the dark paint Mabel had adorned it with the first time she got it. Stars big and small cast a faint light, and Dipper doesn’t hesitate to put the unicorn in a more comfortable position before trying to fall back asleep. The gesture was nice, but there was no way he was snuggling with a toy. 

There’s a picture taken on Mabel’s phone that she shows him in the morning that says otherwise. 

Friday rolls around, and dinner is a tense affair. Dipper picks at his lasagna, casting occasional glances between his mom and Mabel, both of whom are sporting angry expressions as they eat dinner. They had been arguing more and more lately, which was a rare occurrence for them. Despite being sixteen, Dipper and Mabel rarely butted heads with their parents. Mabel chose not to eat lasagna and instead opted for a bowl of cereal instead. 

“Not hungry for lasagna, cupcake?” their dad said, casting a worried glance her way. “It’s your favorite.” 

Mabel’s sour expression softened. “I’m okay for now, dad. Cereal is fine.”

Their mother gave a huff under her breath. “You’re a little too old to be eating cereal for dinner, Mabel.” she remarked.

“I’m sixteen, mom.” Mabel responded. “I think I can choose what I eat for dinner.” 

“I’m not saying that you can’t. I just think you should be eating a proper meal instead of a bowl of sugar.”

“If you’re so worried about me eating a bowl of sugar then why’d you buy the cereal in the first place?” 

Their father clears his throat, obviously thrown by the sass in Mabel’s voice. 

“Now, cupcake, don’t…”

“No,” their mother interrupts, her face turning from mild irritation to flat out angry. She seemed to have very little tolerance for Mabel these days, and vice versa. “If you have something to say to me, Mabel, feel free to say it.”

Dipper is practically sweating trying to send a telepathic link to Mabel to tell her to be quiet. Arguing with their mom was pointless and she knew it. Once their mother got rolling she wasn’t bound to stop any time soon. A tongue lashing from her could last for days. 

“All I’m saying is that I don’t like lasagna.” Mabel snapped. “I _can_ like different things, contrary to popular belief. I don’t understand why you care about something as stupid as cereal anyway.”

“I don’t care about the cereal, I care about your attitude!”

“What about my attitude?”

“It sucks, Mabel! You haven’t been acting like yourself since you got suspended. I understand you’re upset about arguing with your friend but that doesn’t mean you get to--”

“You don’t understand anything!” Mabel exclaimed, slamming her spoon down. “It wasn’t just an argument mom, you’d know that if you’d even bothered to listen to me! All you did the entire car ride home was scold me for getting into trouble. How is that fair?”

“You weren’t speaking!” their mother snapped, now rising from the table. “You’re not a little girl, Mabel. I’m not going to hold your hand and try to get a word out of you. I gave you space and you still didn’t come to me. What did you expect me to do?!” 

Mabel stood up as well, the anger crackling like electricity between them. Their father held up his hands in a placating gesture, trying to defuse the situation. 

“Now, girls. Let’s not start yelling--”

 _“Stay out of it!”_ they both shouted, turning to him with fury smoldering in both their eyes. Dipper gave a swallow as his dad sat down, looking rather stunned at being yelled at. It would’ve been comical had the situation not been so tense. 

“You keep pushing me to talk about things, mom! I don’t want to talk right now but you can’t seem to get that! You want me to talk when _you_ feel like it, and when I don’t you get upset and start acting...petty! So who's the one acting like a little girl here, mom? Because it sure isn’t me!” 

At this, their mother crossed her arms, giving a hard squint at Mabel with enough heat to leave a hole in the middle of her forehead. “Your principal confiscated that notebook of yours before giving it back to you. This is about Bill, isn’t it?”

Oh no. Mabel’s eyes widened and Dipper cleared his throat, attempting to speak up. “Look, mom, I wouldn’t say that…”

“Why?” she threw her arms up in the air in frustration, her voice pitched several octaves higher. “What’s all the secrecy here?! I don’t get it. The principal showed me the notebook, Mabel. You wrote that name all across your notes. Who is he?”

“Be quiet!” Mabel yelled, and she clamped her hands over her ears, her breath coming in short bursts. “I don’t want to talk about it!” 

“Then I’m sending you to the hospital, because you’re clearly hysterical.” 

_“I’m not hysterical!”_

“Then why won’t you answer me? Tell me who--”

 _“DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT BILL!”_ Mabel exploded at the same time she grabbed her cereal bowl and flung it with all her might across the room. It shattered against the wall, cereal pieces and milk flying everywhere. The sound was like a gunshot and Dipper flinched, getting up from his seat to get to Mabel, who had sunk to her knees and was now sobbing. Dipper knelt down to the floor, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. Mabel’s body wracked with sobs, and she curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her knees as she buried her face in her arms. Dipper shushed her gently, and from the corner of his eyes, he could see their mom shaking as she sat down in her chair like the wind was knocked out of her. 

When Mabel had finally exhausted herself, their dad took her to her room. He carried her in his arms despite her weak protests, and didn’t say a word as he ascended the staircase. Dipper cleaned up the cereal and tried to soak up the milk from the carpet as best he could. The broken bowl was placed in the trash. His mother was still sitting at the table, hands trembling. Dipper felt sorry for her. While he didn’t think it was fair for her to push Mabel, he also knew it was difficult for her to wrap her head around the whole situation. 

Talking about Gravity Falls always crashed and burned. The story was just too impossible to believe, and with every failed attempt, both Dipper and Mabel began to feel it wasn’t worth it. They kept secrets from their parents, and Dipper was starting to think that maybe if they tried harder it wouldn’t have gotten to this point. Dipper walked back into the dining room and met his mother’s tear-filled eyes. “We need to talk, mom.”

It took two hours to tell the story and an additional hour to explain Mabel’s behavior. By the time Dipper was finished explaining, he was winded and exhausted. He couldn’t stop himself from tearing up despite his best efforts, and wiped at his eyes with the palm of his hand as the story drew to a close. Talking about Gravity Falls always drudged up a plethora of memories, both wonderful and terrifying. The mix of emotions never failed to leave him ragged. 

On the first day of spring break, Dipper was in the living room watching t.v., and his mom came into view. She headed out the door, but not before tossing two bus tickets to Gravity Falls onto the coffee table before leaving the house.

**Author's Note:**

> just a note, this fic is going to have some dark themes in it, but never anything extreme. there are a lot of happy moments in this fic to balance out the more darker moments and all of the side characters are going to be important to dipper and mabel healing. 
> 
> mabel's outburst might seem a little ooc, but i think mabel is the type to push down those negative feelings so as to not worry others. in her mind, if she doesn't think about the problem, then the problem doesn't exist. realizing that this doesn't work only adds to her mental stress, and suddenly all of her symptoms rush to the surface and she can't wrestle them down like she used to. they're sixteen, healthy coping mechanisms aren't easy for them.
> 
> also, it may seem as though dipper and mabel's parents are unsympathetic (especially their mom), but this is just the beginning. remember that they don't know everything that happened to dipper and mabel, and it's going to be hard for them to handle that. but worry not, they're good parents. this fic updates every friday. 
> 
> enjoy!


End file.
